Another Big Storm

March 1st brings another three feet of snow with more dribbling in all week.  The deer are getting hungry–here is one taking advantage of all my hard snow shoveling.  We spot two minks bounding about and the birds are picking our feeders clean.  Another foot...

The big winter of 2006-7

Mark Twain once said: “If the thermometer was an inch longer, we’d have froze to death.”  In November, we received 5 feet of snow and then the temperatures dropped to -4F for a week.  Actually, it was beautiful. Martina operates the camera as I slave...

Birthday Time

First of all, it’s birthday time–the big one and I feel every year of 60–especially after all this masonry work!  We are lucky to share this event with friends we met in Antarctica, Mike and Jan Eviston.  Mike is an unusual guy who likes to work at...

Summer rain

And it has rained all summer here in SE Alaska–perhpas the rainiest summer recorded–not just a drizzle, but hard rain.  We schlepped four containers to Totland from Seattle which included all the masonry for the heaters and fireplaces, not to mention the...

The fireplace…

Ever wanted to build your own fireplace?  It’s a lot of work.  Here’s where I started: Every piece of granite had to be carried from the next island (Mitkof) out of the woods through swampy muskeg to the car, driven about 10 miles to the boat harbor,...

Tulikivi West

If you want to stay warm in Petersburg Alaska, you need a good heater.  First, cut a hole in your floor and pour about 100 sixty lb. bags of concrete for a footing.  Next, order a Tulikivi masonry heater from Finland.  This unit has a thousand soapstone pieces...